Drop-stitch and lacework mechanism for circular-knitting machines.



A. N. AMES. DROP STITUH AND LAOEWORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED we. 4, 190a.

Patented J5n.10,191 1.

8 SHEETS-BHEET 1.

ul dime as ea: A Eager-c5207.)

' flbkwr' N A. N. AMBS. DROP s'mon AND LAOBWOBK MECHANISM FOR omonmnKNITTING MACHINES.-

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 4, 1906.

919519 Patented Jan10,1911'.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. E r/finial": L flzamrazwEi-wa-q A. N. AMI-1S. DROP STITCH AND LAOEWOBKMECHANISM PCB, CIRGULAB KNITTING, MAOHINES.

APPLIOATIOH FILED no.4, 1906.

- Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

s snnz'rs snfin'r'a.

l MI] A. N.- AME'S. DROP STITCH AND LACE-WORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULARKNITTING MUHIN'ES.

nrmouron rum) AUG. 4, 1906] 981,351 Patented Jan.10 ,1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

A. N. AMES. DROP STITGH'AND LAGEWORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1908.

981,351. Patented Jan.10,1911.

B BREBTPSHEBT 5.

A. N. AMES.

DROP STITCH AND LAGEWOBK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MEGHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4,1906.

981,351 Patented Jan. 10,1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

I I w/fl A. N. AMBS. DROP STITCH AND LAOEWORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULARKNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED AUG.4, 1906.

981,851. Patented Jan. 10,1911. 1

8 SHEETS-SHEET 'l.

f N. AMES. v DROP STITCH AND LACEWORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINES.

- APPLICATION I'ILED AUG.4, 1906.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

c d'i w Q w, M W

ARTHUR N. AMES, .0! FRANKLIN FALLS, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR T0 ACMEKNIT- rme MACHINE a NEEDLE commiv'z, econroaerron or new HAMPSHIRE. i

DROP-STITCH AND LAGEWORK MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters ream.

Patented 'Jan. 10, 191i.

' Application filed August 4, woe. semi No. 329,239.

Tb all whem it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR N. AMES,.2L

citizen of the United States, residing in.

Franklin Falls, in the county of Merrimack and State-of New Hampshirehave invented an Improvement in Drop-Stitch and Lacewor-k Mechanism forCircular-Knitting Machines, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanylng drawings, is a specification, likeletters on' the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to a circular knitting machine, and isembodied in a machine of that type known as the full automatic, in whichthe machine, once started,

--wil l knit a stockin complete; the transfer nitting for the leg andfrom the circular foot to the reciprocating knitting .for the heel andtoe and vice versa being accomplished by automatic pattern mechanism.

The invention is embodied in a novel construct-ion and arrangement ofthe machine whereby a drop stitch effect can beobtained entirely aroundthe l of the stocking, the drop stitch commonly geing dependent upon theremoval of certain of the needles from needle cylinder is provided witha certain number of needles corresponding removed from the cylinder,these special those needles having butts shorter than those of theordinary long and short butt needles commonly employed, and beingcont-rolled.

by devices which permit such drop stitch needles to be carried downwardentirely below the Work during the knitting of the ;leg and thenautomatically restored to the main needle cam cylinder ledge during thereciprocating operation so as to enter into the knitting at that period.The mechanism is further so arranged that-these needles remain inoperation during the circular knitting between the heel and toe, sinceit "is' desirable that the sole of the stocking should be knit solid,although the drop stitches may be carried down along the instep as iscommon when certain needles are removed from the cylinder to obtain thedrop stitch efi'ect.

A further feature of the invention consists in a novel construction andarrange- I. ment whereby a lace effect can be obtained in addition tothe ordinary drop stitch, this being accomplished by providing themachine-with means whereby certain needles located between the dropstitch needles or in the spaces where needles have been removed from thecylinder are caused to operate intermittingl or to tuck, being prevented from knitting in a stitch during a number of courses, and thenbeing caused to operate one or more times to knit in. the threads whichhave been laid across between the'solid knit portions. The needlesdepended upon for obtaining this lace effect are, in accordance with theinvention, acted upon by blanks or blind needles, as they willhereinafter be termed, which consist of rods provided with butts similarto the butts of the needles, the butts of said rods being acted upon bthe cam ledge of a supplemental cam cy inder below the main camcylinder,

and being under the control of suitable pat- I tern mechanism so thatduring the proper numberof courses they are pushed upward at eachrotation, causing the knitting needles controlled by them to be alsopushed upward above the work so that the butts are re-' moved from theinfluence of the main cam cylinder ledge, these needles, therefore,being carried above the work each time the cam comes around, for. suchnumber of courses as may be necessary, the thread being simply carried)ast the outsides of the lifted needles but not' eing knit in.

The cam ledge of the supplemental cam cylinder is provided with switchescontrolled by suitable pattern mechanism, so that the gether along theheel, sole, and toe where the knitting is to be'solid, and also, if desired, along a portion of the leg.

In addition to the general features above outlined, the machineembodying the invention contains minor features of novel constructionand arrangement which will be .iereinafter more fully described.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention; Fig.2'is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is mainly a plan view on alarger scale, parts beingbroken away to show mechanism below; Fig. 4 isa partial rear elevation of the machine, partly in section; Fig. 5 is apartial side elevation, partly in section; Fig. 6 is a horizontalsection on line it of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partial rear elevation withthe cam'cyldeveloped view of. both cam members; Figs,

. gear A? andthe oscillated gear oscillating motion, the said clutchmember substantially -of this type as heretofore constructed, see U. S.Patent No. 461,357, granted to W. H.

10, 11, 12,-13and-14 are full Sized views .of the several knitting andblind needles employed; and Fig. 15 is an enlarged diagram view of thefabric. p

The driving mechanism of the machine is ike that employed in machinesand G. D. Mayo, Oct. 31,1891, the main shaftA (F ig. ,1) having sleevedthereon a driving pulley A and a loose pulley A, the driving pulleyhaving connected therewith a driving gear A which meshes with a largegear A which is driven continually when thebelt is on thepulley A Thesaid largegear A is connected by means ofa pitman Atlwith a ggarsegmentA -upon a rock shaft A whic through-the action'of said itman, 1soscillated continuously during e operation of the machine. The said gearsegment isin mesh with a gear A on the shaft A, the said gear Atherefore,

being oscillated so long as the machine is in operation. Interposedbetween the driving A is a clutch member B, which is'shown as a sleeveinder shown in section, and the lace patternsplined on the shaft A so asto be connected therewith, so far as relates to rotating or B havingprojections B and B which are adapted to engage respectively withshouldersin the gears A and A. When; therefore, the clutch member B isinengagement with the ear A, as shown, the shaft A will be rotatewhile'if the clutch member B is shifted to the other position so thatthe said clutch member is connected with the A ',=thesaid shaft .willbeoscillated.

which isin mesh with the gear C on a stub shaft 0 which gear 0 is alsoprovided with a bevel gear portion O adapted to drive the ear he shaft Ais further provided with a g'earA cam cylinders, as will be more fullydescribed hereinafter, so that the said cam cylinders are rotated oroscillated in accordance with the operation of the shaft A, the rota-1movement of the cylinder performing the clrcular knitting operation,while the oscillating movement thereof performs the reciprocatingknitting operation by which theheel and toe of a stocking are formed.

In the operation of knitting a stocking, the machine starts with theclutch member B in the position shown in Fig. 1, so that a rotarymovement is imparted to the cam cylinders, producing the circularknitting operation which knits the leg of the stockin When the leg hasbeen completed, the clutc 1 member Bis automatically shifted so thatsaid member B becomes engaged with the gear A, the shaft A thenreciprocating, instead of oscillating, in accordance with the operationof the mechanism previously described. The shifting of the clutch memberB is, produced through the agency of a pattern cam wheel D, the specificconstruction of which is not herein-shown and described, since it formsno part of the present invention. The said cam wheel is fullydescribedin another ap lication filed by me Feb.'19,. 1906, Serial 0.301,801, to which ap lica-- tion reference may be made; In or er to knitstockings with lines of drop stitches extending down and completelyaround the leg and at the same time to arrange for the lines while thesole is solid knit, it is necessary. to provide the machine with meansfor controlling certain of the needles so as to render them inactiveduring the knitting of the leg, but active during. the knitting of thefoot. The drop stitches can be provided for at that part of the machinewhere the front ofthe leg and the upper. portion, of the foot are knit,by merely removing from the machine one or more needles corresponding.to each line of dropstitches, since these needles do not perform anyfunction in the knitting of the heel and toe of the stocking.

It is impracticable, however, .to remove any of the needles from thatpart of the cylinder where the reciprocating knitting is carried on forthe heel and toe, or where the solid part of the circular knitting comesalong the sole. In, accordance with the present invention, therefore,means are provided for controlling, without removing, any desired numberofneedles to correspond to the drop stitch lines, so-that the saidneedles may be rendered inoperative during the.

of drop stitches extended along the instep knitting of the leg or a partthereo and again laced in operation during th'e knitting of the heel,sole and toe.. For this purpose themain cam cylinder a is provided, inaddition to the normal long and short butt needles'E and E with a seriesof needles b (hereinafter referred to as dropj-operation. As hereinshown, the main ledge a Figs. 7, 8 and 9, which is provided with theusual switch channel and switch for raising and lowering the needles inthe circular knitting operation, and with the lifting and loweringdevices (0 and (L51, Fig. 9, for lifting and restoring the needlesconsecutively during the reciprocating knitting movement,

is provided, in addition, with a cam or movable slide member a which inits normal position pro ects into the cam cylinder 0.

far enough to afford a support for the shortest butt needles Z), but isarranged to be drawn outward until it fails to afford such support;without, however, removing the support for the usual long andishort buttneedles employed in the ordinary knitting machine. This slide memberawhen withdrawn from the path of the needles of shortest butts, allowsthese needles to drop to thesupplemental ledge a". In order to insurethe dropping of the needles, a defiector a is located above the slidemember a so that the needles dip at each rotation of the cam, the slidemember a, if in operative position,restoring them to the ledge a and, ifwithdrawn, allowing the short butt needles to be acted on by thedeflecting surface a, which insures the removal of the butts to thelower ledge a For a drop stitch operation of the kind described,therefore, themaehine is providedalong the part where the solid knittingmust be performed with a number of the drop stitch needles 6,

spaced to correspond to the positions where the lines of drop stitchesare desired, and the slidea is moved out-of the path of said needles, sothat the are all dropped to the lower ledge and remain below thework,per-- forming n0 function in the knitting operation'so long'as aplaind'rop stitch is to be made all around the stocking. In the rota,-tion of the cam, the slide (1." reaches the needles before they arereached by the regular knitting cams, so that-the dropst-itch needlesare carried down to the lower ledge before the thread reaches them. Intraveling down,

the needles simply pass through qthe old loops which are shed by thelatcl1es;.and when the needles are restored to the ledge a so as'toenter-into'the knitting operation,

the latches stand above the old loops and clear thereof, ready tooperate in the usual way when actuated by the regular knitting canis.

When the leg of the stocking is finished and it is necessary to beginthe solid knitting around the heel, the drop stitch needles are restoredto the ledge a by means of a switch 0, which is arranged to be droppedinto the path of the butts of the needles resting on the ledge a thisswitch thus guiding the needles upward to the ledge a, the slide cam abeing meanwhile pushed in, so as to keep the said needles on the saidledge whereby they enter into the knitting operation. ,T he opening fromthe lower to the upper ledge is closed by a latch member 0 to preventthe needles resting on the ledge 02 from catching. Since the slide cam(1 must be pushed inward when the switch 0 is depressed, and vicevers'a,both of these members are controlled by a common actuating devicea, which is under the control of suitable pattern mechanism, as will behereinafter described, the said actuating device (I being herein shownas a slide adapted to be moved toward and from the cylinder, and havinga cam groove or surface d which acts upon the slide cam a and switch 0as follows: The switch 0 is operated first and is located in the-camcylinder 11 in advance of the slide cam a, the said switch having apivotal support consisting of a. pin having a horizontal bearing in thewall of the cylinder (1 and being provided with a lateral projection 0having an inclined surface which is held by means of a spring 0" inengagement with a similar inclined surface at the end of a lever 0having a vertical bearing in a lug secured to the side of the cylinder.This levenis provided with a projection in the path of the cam groove (Zso as to travel through the same as the cam cylinder at rotates.Assuming that the slide (1 has been moved to'the position shown, thelever 0 will have been turned on its pivot, so that the inclined surfacethereof has been moved into engagein ent with the inclined surface ofthe lateral projection thus depressing the said lateral projection andturning the pivot pin 0 so that the switch 0 is lifted against thestress of the spring 0 thus leaving the lower ledge a free fromobstruction. Thus, any needles which may have been dropped to said lowerledge will remain idle below the work, and not enter into the knittingoperation; The lateral projection (2* is keptin .its depressed position.until the slide al is again shifted, the lever being acted upon, as bestshown in Fig. 2, by a spring pressed retaining pin mounted in thelugwhich affords the bearing for the lever 0, which is provided withnotches or channels to receive the said pin so as to be heldin eitherposition until acted upon by the slide-d. In order to drop the needlesI) to the said ledge, 1 the slide cam n3 is then acted'upon andwithdrawn from thepath of the butts of said needles, the said slide cama being shown as provided witlra stem at which affords a sliding supportor hearing therefor,

in the wall of the cylinder (1, the said .stem having a slot a whichreceives one end of a pivoted lever 6, having a projection e whichpasses through the cam groove d causing. the lever e to rock on itspivot, thus producing the necessary longitudinal movement of the stem ato withdraw the cam a*-fro1n' the path of the short butt needles on theupper ledge a The movement of the slide (1 is controlled by a rod f,havin a projection f entering a slot d in the s ide, the said slothaving curved Walls, so that a longitudinal movement of the rod f willproduce a corresponding longitudinal movement of the slide, in atransverse direction, as illustrated. The initial movement of the saidslide (1, which is under the control of the main pattern mechanism isproduced asfollows: The rod 1 is connected by means of a link f with'alever f (Figs. 2, 3 and 5 which is pivoted in the frame of the machine,the opposite end of said lever being joined with another pivoted lever fwhichis connected with a linkf which extends across the machine and isconnected with an elbow leverf one end of said elbow lever havin a camro-ll f in the path of the projectionD on the main pattern cam wheel D.There is a loose or lost motion connection between the lever. f and thelink f since the movement of the slide (1 in ,the optpos'ite directionis under the control of a di erent instrumentality, and takes placewithout any corresponding movement of the aforesaid link. Such restoringmovement, which takes'place when the short butt needles are to berestored to the main ledge a and which involves the return movement ofthe switch'c. and the cam member a, will be more fully described inconnection with the lace work mechanism which also forms part of theinvention. I I

. The tucked stitch mechanism is embodied in means fortucking oraccumulating loops to give the lace effect by utilizing intermittin'glyoperated needles, which are prevented from operating during one" or morecourses,

being at this period held entirely above-the aid around and operated oneor. more times in the ordinary way to knitin the threads previously laidaround them, the said intermit tingly,

operated needles beingpreferably" between adjacent drop stitch needles,orin the spaces where the needles have been removed, sothat there isa'space between the lines where the lace threads are gathered together,giving the desired lace effect. The needles are pushed upward; beforethe thread reaches them, and held up while the knitting cams travelpast, so that their'hooks do not engage the threadat all. The laceeffect can be obtained completely around the lcgof the stocking, andoverthe instep thereof withi will. be hereinafter termed the same.

- prevent the knitting out interfering with the solid knitting along theheel, sole and toe. The lace efiect can also be obtained withoutdropping stitches independently of each other, they most naturally gotogether in the knitting of, the

' stocking, and in the embodiment of the invention herein shown, theseveral instrumentalities which perform the drop stitch knitting andlace efi'ect knitting are shown 'as actually cooperating with eachother, al-

though it is obviously not essential that such cooperation should takeplace.

In order to obtainithe lace effect, the mas chine has a supplementalledge .9, best shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, and a series of what may betermed blind needles, that isto say, needle-bars h and h, Figs. 13 and14, adapt-'- ed to cooperate with the lower ends of the regular knittinneedles, the said blind needles having long and short butts for apurpose to be hereinafter described. The

ledge g, with its accompanying parts, which tal cam cylinder, isprovided with a de- Tflector 9 the purpose-of which is to cooperate witha switch g in moving the blind needles up, once'at each revolution ofthe cylinder, assuming that the switch 9 is in position to engage theneedle-butts. There supplemenis a channel 9* below the deflector g toadmit th'e butts in case the switch is entirely removed from the paththereof, so that the blind needles it will remain on the ledge g, exceptwhen the switch 9 projects across the Theyblind needles h and 'h arearranged in a needle cage similar to that emplo'yed :t'or the regularknitting needles,

there being one blind needle in alinement with and cooperating with eachof the reguin the special lace w0rk.

lar. knitting needles which is to be employed,-

' In the first part of the circular knitting,

that is, after the blind needles it have been put'into operation toproducethe lace effect all around the stocking, both the longand shortbutt needles are acted upon, the action a being controlled through theswitch g by pattern mechanism which will be hereinafterdescribed, all ofthe said needles being caused tooperate during such a number of coursesas may be desired to thereby from enterin needles controlled into theknit:

action during one or more courses to permit the knitting needles tooperate in the usual way'and stitch in the threads not previously actedupon; When it comes to knitting the heel, all of the blind needles areput out of action, this being solid knitting throughout; and when themachine is again shifted to circular knitting to knit the foot, aportion of the blind needles correspondlng to the needles which knit thesole are put out of action, while the others still operate in responseto the pattern mechanism so as to carry the lace 'efi'ect along over theinstep. This is the purpose of providing the blind needles with long andshort butts, the long butt needles 12. only being used during theknitting of the foot.

The butts of all of the blind needles are acted on by the switch g toguide them up into contact with the surface of thedeflector 9 when theyare to operate upon ,the knitting needles. The deflector g is just inadvance of the up and down knit-ting channel of the cam cylinder a, sothat when the blind needles are in operation they push up the knittingneedles before the latter reach the knitting channel, the needles beingpushed" up to such a position that the butts overlie the upper ledge aof the main cam cylinder (1.

The knitting needles remain above the ledge a during nearly one rotationof the cylinder, andare then deflected downward to the regular knittingledge by means of theswitch a which is the switch employed at thebeginning and end of the reciprocating operation in the regular knittingmachine. In the meantime, the blind needles k have been restored to theledge g by means of the deflector g, and at the end of a rotation areagain under control of the switch g, so that they operate or not uponthe knitting needles according to the position of said switch. So long,therefore, as the .switch g remains in place, the knitting needlescorresponding to the blind needles 11.

will be pushed up above the work before reaching the knitting channel a,so that no stitch will be formed. The said blind needle switch g isherein shown as provided with a stem 9 provided with rack teeth 9intermeshing with a pinion y so that by turning the said pinion theswitch g may bemoved in and out radially with relation to the cylinderto such extent as may be desired. The stem 9 bears in an opening formedin a lug on the supplemental cam cylinder.- In the construction shown,the said switch g is arranged to have three positions; one in which itdoes not project into the path of the butts of the needles at all, sothat none of the blind needles are operated; a second or oppositeposition in which it projects far enough in to engage 'the butts of allthe blind needles; and a third or intermediate position in which itprojects in far enough to engage the butts of the long butt blindneedles, but not those of the short butt blind needles.

A The pinion g? which operates the switch with a fixed )ortion of theframe,

- g on the supplemental cam cylinder, and is provided with a projectiong which 15 arranged to engage the walls of a cam member 2', the positionof which is arranged to be shifted by means of suitable patternmechanism. During the rotation of the cam cylinder, therefore, theswitch membeng Wlll remain in such position as is determined by theposition of the segment 9 which 1n turn is determined by the cam memberi and the shifting of the said cam member in a d1- rection radial to theaxis of the cyllnder Wlll. produce a corresponding shifting of theswitch member 9 As herein shown, the cam member i is in the form of alever plV- oted at 2' and having a projection or engaging portion 2'which enters a slot k in a slide member is, the walls of sald slot beinginclined so that a longitudinal movement of the slide k will produce acorresponding movement of the lever 2' in a direction radial to the axisof the cylinder. The said lever z is under the control of two sets ofpattern mechanism, one of said sets determining the beginning and endingof the lace work, and the change necessary when part of needles arerenderedinoperative to knit the bottom of the foot, while the other setde-1 termines the appearance or nature of. the lace work itself, and,for convenlence, the latter set of pattern mechanism will be describedfirst. The slide it is normally heldinthe position shown in Figs. 5 andG by means of a spring k which is connected at one end and at the otherend with a lever is, which has a con nection with the slide la, the saidlever being shown as forked, while the forked members embrace a pin orprojection I0 from the slide. In this position of the slide the switch 9projects'into the cam cylinder to its fullest extent, so as to operateall the blind needles therein, thus preventing theknitting needlescontrolled by said blind needles from operating during such number ofcourses'as may be determined by the configurationof a suitable patternwheel m, Figs. 2 and 6, which is arranged to act upon a projection isfrom the lever le The said pattern wheel m has an irregular shaped.surface so as to move the slide is away from its normal position to theopposite extreme position, thereby withdrawing the SWItC lI member gfrom the cam cyl1nder. This permits the operation atuntervals of theknitting needles controlled by the 'bl1nd needles to knit in thethreadsfnot previously acted upon. Q

During the knitting of the leg of the stocking, the pattern wheel isrotated, caus ing the needles used for the lace effect to operateintermittinglyin accordance with the shape of said pattern wheel, thefeed of the pattern wheel being accomplished by means of a pawl m Fig.2, acting on a ratchet wheel m connected with the pat-- tern wheel m,the said ratchet wheel m being frictionally held by a brake or spring m.The feed pawl m is pivotally connected to any arm m, which is connectedby means of a link m with a lever m pivoted at m and having a cam rollor projection m, which enters a cam groove m? in a conneedles employedin the reciprocating knitting operation must be left in position to becontrolled by the main cam cylinder and the needle elevating and needledepressing cams. The pattern wheel m, therefore, is stopped-at thisperiod of the operation, and at the sametime the slide is moved to sucha position as to cause the withdrawal of the switch g from the blindneedle cam cylinder, so that the blind needles are not lifted in thetravel of said cylinder.

To stop the feed ofthe pattern wheel the pawl m is provided, as bestshown in Figs. 2 and 3, with a tail or projection m, which is arrangedto be acted upon by the upiturned end of a slide m connected with anelbow lever m which in turn is connected by a llnk m with a lever m"plvoted at m (Figs. 4 and 9), and connected with a lever B, whichoperates the clutch B to change the cylinder from rotary to oscillatingmovemeht. Thus when the shift takes place, the slide m is pulled againstthe tail m of the pawl m thus rocking the same on its pivot and holdingit out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. It is necessary at thisperiod in the operation that the .switch 9 should be withdrawn from thepath of the butts of the blindneedles, and it may happen, of course,that the pattern wheel m will be stopped at a time when one of thedepressions is in the path of the projection 70,- which would leave theslide in in such a position as to cause the switch g to project .intothe cam cylinder.

In order to insure that the slide k .shall be in the opposite positionwhen there is no lace work to be done, the lever k4 is arranged to beacted upon by an additional controlling device m ,'shown as an elbowlever pivoted concentrically with the pattern wheel and provided with acam proj e'ction-m, which is arranged to engage the projection @K'inlinewith the projection 7:",

' ting operation.

to carr .needles do not operate at all.

of the pattern wheel on and lock the same in such position during thereciprocating knit- The said elbow lever m is shown as connected bymeans of a link m (Figs. 5 and 6) with the elbow lever m which has beenpreviously described as operating the member m which stopsthefeed of thepattern wheel m, so that at the same time the feed is stopped, the elbowlever m is thrown into such a position as the slide is to the left, andcause the switch, g to be withdrawn from the cam cylinder. Thus, duringthe reciprocatin movement when the solid knitting is taking place at theheel and toe, the blind If the lace effect is to be carried down alongthe instep, however, the sole of the stocking at the same time beingknit solid, it is necessary when the circular knittin begins, for thepurpose of completing the. oot, to control the blind needles so thatthey will operate only in that art of the cylinder where the instepportion is being knit. For this purpose theslide'l: is arranged to havean intermediate position in which the switch g projects inward only farenough to engage the long butt blind needles, the said slide, however,being moved from such intermediate position to the position in which theswitch is entirely withdrawn for the purpose of determining the lacepattern, as in the operation previously described. For this purpose theslide 70, which, as-previously stated, is moved in one direction by thespring 70 is provided with a stop suitably controlled, which limits suchspring-controlled movement so that the complete sets of movements of theslide consist in its movement inone direction under the lace effect iscarried down over the instep while the sole is knit solid. This stop isI shown as a lever n, Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, arranged to cooperate with ashoulder [a on the slide is, the said lever n being mounted on arockshaft n and yieldingly drawn toward the slide by a spring a Therockshaft n -is provided with an arm n connected by means of a link awith-a lever n 'pivoted on top of the table, the said lever n beingmovable to three diflerent positions by means .of suitable patternmechanism.- As shown in Fig. 6, the lever n is in the position in whichthe lace work is being formed entirely around the leg of thestock- Hing.-

When the shift takes place from circular to reciprocating knitting forthe purpose of knitting the heel, the lace work pattern wheel is stoppedand the slide la is held in such position as to withdraw the switchentirely from the path of the blind needles by needles having the longbutts, these being the ones which control the lace effect over theinstep. This operation is controlled by means of a pattern lug 0 on themain pattern wheel 0 which engages the tail p on the elbow lever orstop 1) the end of which lies in the path of the lever n, so as toprevent the said lever' '11 from moving in response to the action of thespring vi The pattern member 0 is of such shape as to lift the stop 39 adistance sufiicient to clear the end of the lever a", but withoutcarrying it out of the path of a shoulder n on the lever n, thusallowing the rwk shaft n to turn until the stop it lies in the path ofthe shoulder This limits the return movement of the slide is each timeit is released b the main lace patterncam 9, so that the switch g willonly be projected far enough into the cylinder to engage the long butts.After the foot has been finished, "a

' still higher projection .0 on the pattern wheel 0 acts upon the tailportion p, and lifts the stop p entirely out of the path of the lever n,thus permitting the rock shaft n to make its full movement, and to causea supplemental stop 1' to be brought into the path ofthe shoulder lcthus locking the slide and preventing any further movement thereof untilthe said stop 1' is moved out of the path, of the shoulder 7a. This isaccomplished by means of a pattern block 0 on the pattern wheel O,w-hichis out of alinement with the pattern-blocks 0 and 0 (Figs. 4 and 7), andacts upon an elbow lever s,.one end of which engages a pivoted lever twhich, in turn, acts upon the lever n to move the same to the positionshown in Fig. 6 where it is held by the stop 22* which then drops infront of the said lever; v

The supplemental stop 1' is frictionally mounted on the rock-shaft 01F,and is rovided with stops 1 and 1' which project into the path of thestop n at opposite sides, there being sufiicient lost motion betweenthese stops-to permit the stop a to move into the path of the shoulder kwithout correspondingly moving the said supplemental stop 1'.

When the dropped stitch lace effect or the dropped stitch only iscarried completely around the leg of the stocking, it is obviouslynecessary to restore the drop stitch needles to operativeposition duringthe'knitting of the heel, foot and toe, so as to get the solid knittingalong the heel, sole and toe. It becomes necessary, therefore, to shiftthe slide (7, the operation of which has previously been described,prior to the knitting of the heel, the said slide not being furtheroperated until the stocking is finished, since the stitches over theinstep are dropped on account of the actual removal of certain of theneedles from the cylinder. The shifting of the slide d is accomplishedindirectly through the operation of the pattern blocks 0, 0 and 0 abovedescribed, being directly accomplished by the action of the slide k,which is provided with a projection is, which is arranged to engage aswivel member f which has a pivotal connection at f with the rod f,which operates the slide d. The swivel member f has a recess f (Figs. 3and 7), the said recess being arranged to come into the path of theprojection is just prior to the changing from the rotary to thereciprocating movement of the .cylinder. To bring the said recess f"into the path of the projection k", the said swivel member f is arrangedto be acted upon by the lever 11, which causes the swivel f to turn uponits pivot f until it brings the recess f into the path of the projectionis at which time it arrests the lever a so that the same does not comeinto the path of the shoulder [a during the next movement of the slide70. The movement of the slide k, therefore, is completed and causes theprojection is to shift the slide d, and thereby close the switch 0 andpush in the cam a", thereby causing the drop-stitch needles to bereturned to the main cam cylinder-ledge a and retained therein by thecam a, so that the said needles enter into the subsequent knittingoperations.

Since the drop-stitch needles are lowered before reaching the knittingpoint, and remain below the work until placed in operation, as abovedescribed, during the knitting of the, heel, foot and toe, there is nothread under the hook to open the latch as the needle is pushed up intooperative posi tion. For the purpose of insuring that the latches shallbe opened, therefore, the machine is provided with a latch engagingdevice w, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, consisting of 'a projecting blade located onthat part of the cam cylinder where the 'needles come up, so as to.catch the end of eachlatch as the needle rises, and open the same.

For convenience in assembling the needle cylinder, the said cylinder ismade in two parts, the part y for the regular knitting needles beininserted from above, and held in place by he cylinder for the blindneedles which is inserted from below. The blind needle cylinder y isshown'as provided with ears z which overlie lugs 3 inder 3 is held inplace by turningthe same after the mannere-of a bayonet oint. The

formed on the frame, so that the lower cylsaid lower cylinder is furtherprovided with a projection 3 which is arranged to be held by means of alatch y pivotally connected to the frame and adapted to overlie the saidprojection in order to hold the-lower cylingears a and 9 upon an idlershat'ta which. has a suitable bearing in the frame.

' The lower cam cylinder is directly driven from the bevel gear C, ashasbeen previously described.

Claims.

1. In a circular knitting machine, the

combination with thelong and short butt needles; of special needleshaving butts shorter than those of the regular short butt needles andbeing located at intervals in the cylinder; means operating 011 saidspecial needles durlng the clrcular knitting operation to remove themfrom the influence of the knitting cams; means for restoring saidspecial needles to the influence of the knitting cams prior to thereciprocating knitting operation; and pattern mechanism for controllingthe operation of said shiftingand restoring means;

2. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with the regular longand short butt needles; of special needles having butts of minimumlength; a main cam ledge; a

supplemental cam ledge; a switch located adjacent to each ledge tocooperate with said minimum butt needles; and a-common actuating devicefor said switches.

3. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with the main camledge; of a supplemental cam ledge located in the cam cylinder; aplurality of special drop stitch needles; means for changing themovement of the cylinder from rotary to reciprocating; and devicescooperating with said means for shifting said drop stitch needles fromone cam ledge to the other.

4. In a circular-knitting machine, the combination with a plurality ofspecial drop stitch needles of means for removing said drop stitchneedles from the influence ot the knitting cams; a' slide member adaptedto actuate said means; pattern mechanism cooperating with the clutchwhich shifts the cylinder from reciprocating to rotary move ment; saidclutch; and separate means for in the opposite direction. J. v

5. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with 'theregular longand short operating said drop stitch actuating means butt needles; ofdrop-stitch needles having still shorter butts; a switch located in themain ledge of the cam cylinder; and means for withdrawing the saidswitch from the path of the drop-stitch needles only, whereby saiddrop-stitch needles may be deflected to a supplemental ledge below.

6. In a circular knitting machine, the combination wit-b the regularlong and short buttneedles; of drop stitch needles having still shorterbutts; a switch located in the main ledge o'f'the cam cylinder; meansfor withdrawing the said switch from the path of the drop-stitch needlesonly, whereby said drop-stitch needles may be .deflected to asupplemental ledge below; and a switch main ledge; and pattern mechanismfor operating both switches.

8. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with the-knittingneedles; of blind needles cotiperating with certain of said knittingneedles to push the same above the line of knitting; aswitch cam tocontrol the operation of said blind needles; and pattern mechanism tocontrol the operation of said switch cam.

9; In a circular knitting machine, the combination with the, main camcylinder provided-with knitting cams; of a supplemental cam cylinder;blind needles controlled by said supplemental cam cylinder, said blindneedles being in alinement with certain of the regular needles so as tocooperate therewith; and. a switch located in said supple mental camcylinder to control the operation of said blind needles, substantiallyas described.

10. The combination withthe regular knitting needles; of blind needlescooperating with certain of said regular needles, said blind needlesbeing arranged in two sets having long and short butts; a cam cylinderfor said blind needles; a switch connected with said cam cylinder;andmeans for moving said switch'to selectively control the operation ofsaid blind needles.

11. The combination with; the regular knitting needles of thelongzandshort butt blind needles cooperating therewith;a cam cylinder for saidblind/needles; a switch carried'by said cam cylinder to cooperate withsaid blind needles; and. means for movmg said switch from one to anotherof needles; of long switch whereby said short butt blind needles;

thereof; a. spring actuate spring to withdraw three positions to causethe same to coopvrale with all of the blind needles, none of butt blindneedles 12. The combination with. the regular and short butt blindneedles; a cam cylinder for said blind needles; a switch cooperatingwith said blind needles; a pattern wheel to produce the full movement ofsaid switch; and independent means for producing a partial movement ofsaid switch is caused to operate on the long butt blind needles only.

13. The combination with the long and of the cam cylinder and switch tocontrol the operation (I slide to operate said switch; a pattern wheelcooperating with said slide against the action of the switch-entirelyfrom the path of the needle butts;

the

a stop to limit the spring movement of said switch; and independentpattern mechanism to operate said stop.

14. The combination with drop-stitch needles; of a switch for stitchneedles from withdrawing said the knitting position' dropblind needlesto cooperate with certain o the regular knitting nee dles to carry theco-actin same out of the knitting position; switches cooperatin g withsaid drop-stitch needles and said blind needles; and common means forrestoring said switches to their normal position..

15. The combination with the knitting needles; of blind needlescooperating therewith; a switch to control said blind needles; a slideoperating said switch; a main stop either two ositions; a-supplementalstop to hold said s ide in a third position; and a lost motionconnection between said main and supplemental stops, substantially asdescribed.

16. In a knitting machine provided with regular needles and cooperatingblind needles, a needle cylinder made in two parts, the upper part beingsupported on the lower; and means for supporting the lower part frombelow.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR N. AMES.

Witnesses M. E. COVENEY, H. LIVERMORE.

